"Have you met my friend Jesus?"
by The Rev. David Mossbarger

I hope this question brings joy. The first time I heard it, I was annoyed.

I had been raised in the Church. In 7th grade, I mistook a peer's friendly introduction for an unfriendly judgment on my character.   Did my acts not show my faith?¹ Would my peer try to become my boss because he knew the Lord Jesus and he thought I didn't? As an adult, however, I decided he was sincere.

Through this peer, God gave me the chance to speak trustingly about Jesus' loving presence. As a 7^th grader, I could have said, "I agree. He loves me. I can't see Him with my eyes. But He lives with me and other Christians. His important life makes my life--our lives--important. His life has influenced mine, because ...."

Maybe you realized how to respond to the question "Have you met my friend Jesus?" quicker than I did. Maybe you have information to share about your life with Jesus. I would like to include what others say on this page. The national Episcopal Church is also gathering these faith stories.

There are also many other web surfers who may never have had a Church home. If you responded "no, I have not met Jesus," then perhaps you're here to meet Him. But you may also have some questions about my motives for wanting to introduce Him.

The New Testament is the authoritative way to meet Christ. I do have authority to interpret the Bible for the congregation: I choose the preachers for our worship; I am ultimately responsible for the Christian Education here. But even when an Episcopalian leader chooses a lecture format, our church understands that the Church's preaching has an important element of dialogue.2 The church ad, to the left, reminds all seekers and all Christians to listen to each other.3

I recently had the opportunity to perform a bit part in the Odessa Permian Playhouse production of Harvey. The original play ran for 4 years in the late 1940's. The movie version stared the late Jimmy Stewart. The other characters wonder about the Jimmy Stewart character, Elwood P. Dowd, who introduces friends and strangers to an invisible six foot rabbit named Harvey. Dowd's conversations cause his family to take him to a sanitarium. As some strangers "experience" Harvey's, we learn that Dowd, the introducer, is not in charge. When a new friend wants Harvey to go to Akron, Ohio with him, Dowd is perfectly happy to step aside. For Christians, community is important. We'll even confront each other with mission choices which we believe are important to our Lord Jesus. But confrontation and conversion are a life-long process. We introducers of Christ, like Dowd, will be happy to step aside. Your new relationship with Him may cause a RENEWED REINTRODUCTION for us!

Have you met my friend Jesus? You can start here. But when you start, know how grateful we are. Your relationship with the Lord Jesus may bring me--and others--closer to Him.

¹James 2:18 ² Price, Charles P. , Liturgy for Living p.179 ³Philippians 2:3-we might want to consider other heroes of the faith who "stepped aside." Eli who introduced Samuel to God (I Samuel 3); David who must let his son Solomon build the temple (I Kings 8) Jonah who must step aside to let the Ninevites know God's grace (Jonah 4), John the Baptist who know Jesus must" increase" (John 3:30), Andrew, who introduces Peter to Christ (John 1:41-42), sees Peter's growing important relationship to Christ; In church history we see other strong Christians stepping aside from using their power--for example, Chad of Northumbria and Hilda of Whitby.